Drywall doorframes



Jan. 7, 1958 R. GOLDBERG DRYWALL DOORFRAMES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;.3, 1955 4 s f 6 2 NJ E 3 Z X m. w w n; A A P? a Jan. 7, 1958 R. GOLDBERGDRYWALL DOORFRAMES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 3, 1955 JNVENTOR. RALPHGOLDBERG ATTORNEYS limited States atent DRY-WALL DOORFRAMESRalph=Goldberg, Denver, Colo.

Application October 3, 1955,,SerialNo. 537,915

l Claim. (Cl.'189--4'6) .This invention relates tometal .doorframes; andmore particularly, to dry wall metal doorfratnes and themethod of.mounting the ,same.

Itiis customary to mount metal doorframes by.attaching them to thewooden frame members before the wall surfaces which cover the sides ofthe wooden frame members are in place. In dry wall construction the drywall panels are slipped between the sides of the metal doorframe and thesides of the wooden framemembers to form the finished wall. The priorart metal doorframes are usually fastened directly totthe wooden framemembers by nails passing through the face of the metal frame members.After the dry wall panels are .in place, they too are nailedinto theWooden frame members.

Certain .difficulties arise, however, when an attempt is made to slipthe dry wall panels between the sides of the metal and wooden framewhile working near. a corner. In this instance there is vnot enough roombetween the frameand corner to permit'the dry Wall panel to be slippedin place once the metal doorframe has been set.

'It has also; beenjfound that. metal doorframes;attached to the .woodenframe members by fasteners passing through the face of the metal frameinto the face of the woden frame arenotrigid and have 'a tendency tomove relative to the wooden frame members. In order to overcome thisobjection several 'rather complicated cornerconstructions havebeendevised by-means of which the jamb members are attached to the headmember in a manner to prevent movement of the metal frame. Theseconstructions are expensive and require considerably-more timetoinstallthan the doorframe'of "the-present invention.

'Itisytherefore, the-principal object ofthepresentinventionto provide adry wall metal doorframe which can be rapidly and rigidly attached tothe Wooden doorframe members with the dry wall panels already in place.

A second object of the invention is to provide'a novel method forattaching a:metal doorframe over a finished drytwall door opening.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metal doorframe whicheliminates the necessity for fastening the jamb members to the headmember; and therefore, enables the frame to be installed much morerapidly and easily.

Additional objects of the invention are the provision of a metaldoorframe which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture; a doorframewhich can be installed by unskilled workmen; and, a metal doorframewhich presents an attractive appearance.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed outspecifically hereinafter in connection with the description of thedrawing which follows, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the dry wall metal doorframe ofthe present invention in its entirety;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the strap by whichthe doorframe of the present invention ice isattached to the woodenframe member mounted on the inside of the metal frame;

Figure 3 is a tranverse section showing the metal doorframe in positionto bemoved in place over the wooden frame members with the dry wallpanelsalready in place alongside thereof;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure .3 showing the metal doorframenailed in place onithe finished wall;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sideelevation of .a slightly modified .form.of thedoorframe of therpresent invention showing the manner in whichthejamb member adjoins the head member. to form. a corner;

Figure 6 is a view .-similar to Figure 5 showing the jamb member andhead member of Figure 5 slightly separated;

Figure 7 'is a view looking in the direction of arrow 7 'Figurefi;

Figure 8 is a view looking in the direction of arrow 8'Figure 6; and,

Figure '9 is a transverse section taken along line .99 of Figure 5.

-Referring now to.the drawing, the drywall metal doorframe o'f'thepresent'invention, represented in a general wayby numeral 1'4, consistsbasically of jamb members 16. and 1'8and a head member 12. The basiccross section of the jamb members and head member which comprise theframe is identical and one form thereof is clearly shown in Figures3 and4; whereas, a slightly minate in portions 28 which return tothe 'dry'wall surface26 and thenextend forwardly along saidsurface to preventmarring the dry wall t panels when slipped into place.

The face and sides of each frame-member= form a channel sized toreeeivethe woden 'frame members'Sll and.

the dry wall panels 40 on opposite sides thereof; The particularcrosssection illustrated h-as been selected' because of itssimilarityinexterior appearance to acouventional wooden door casingand 'it ismaterialto the present invention only insofar as it provides a channelformed 'by the face and sides to receive the-wooden frame and-drywallpanels. The slightly modifiedconstruction illustrated in Figures '5.through 9, inclusive, is provided with 'sides' '24'a which simulate asquare moldingor trim. Obviously, the door stop-rib is unnecessary:where no dooris' to "be hung on the door-frame.

T he most importantsingle (feature of the: doorframe of the presentinvention is the provision of strap 32 fastened to the rear surface offace 20 in Figures 1 through 4 by which the metal frame members arefastened to the Wooden frame members and the dry wall panels. The strapcomprises transverse portion 34 which is spotwelded or otherwisepermanently attached to the rear surface of face 20 and rearwardlyextending portions 36 on either end thereof. Rearwardly extendingportions 36 are parallel to one another and spaced apart a distanceequal to the width of Wooden frame members 30. Transverse portion 34 ispreferably provided with one or more transverse ribs 38 formed thereinwhich stiffen the strap and impart greater rigidity to the framemembers. The rearwardly extending portions 36 extend rearwardly agreater distance than sides 24 as shown most clearly in Figures 3 and 4.Portions 28 of the sides are spaced from the rearwardly extendingportions 36 of the strap a distance equal to the thickness of dry wallpanels 40,

In mounting the dry wall metal doorframe of the present invention, thedry wall panels 40 are placed on opposite sides of the wooden framemembers 30, as shown in Figure 3, but not fastened thereto. The framemember is then placed as shown in Figure 3 with the rearwardly extendingportions 36 of the strap positioned to enter the space between the sidesof the wooden frame members 30 and the dry wall panels 40. The framemember is then pushed rearwardly into the position shown in Figure 4;whereupon, the dry wall panels move into the gap between the sides ofthe metal frame member and the rearwardly extending portions of thestrap. The base 42 of the forward wooden frame member 30 lies againstthe transverse portion 34 of the strap. Nails 44 are then driven throughthe dry wall panels 40, through the rearwardly extending portions 36 ofthe strap, and into the wooden frame members. Thus, the doorframe anddry wall panels are attached to the wooden frame members at the sametime and with the same fasteners. The jamb members are nailed in placeindependently of the head member and there is no positive connectiontherebetween.

Referring now in perpendicular to Figure 9 of the drawing wherein isshown a slightly modified form of strap for attaching the metal framemembers to the wooden frame members, it will be seen that rearwardlyextending members 46 are separate from transverse stiffening plate 48and attached to the sides 24a of the frame. Rearwardly extending members46 are attached to the sides of the frame in such a manner that a gap isleft between portions 28 of the sides and said rearwardly extendingmembers equal to the thickness of the dry wall panels 40 asaforementioned. Rearwardly extending members 46 perform exactly the samefunction as rearwardly extending portions 36 of the Figures 1 through 4strap construction. The dry wall metal doorframe of Figures 5 through 9,inclusive, is mounted in exactly the same way as that of Figures 1through 4. In the Figure 9 strap the rearwardly extending membersproject rearwardly beyond the rear edge of sides 24a to receive thenails 44.

1 Figures 5 through 8, inclusive, illustrate the corner constructionwhich is used with the dry wall metal doorframes of the presentinvention. In Figure 7 it will be seen that the head member 12a isnotched at each end to receive the particular cross section of jambmember 18a; The sides 24a are mitered to form a 45 joint, as shown, withthe sides of one of the adjoining frame members being extended slightlyto form an overlap to compensate for any discrepancies in the fitbetween said adjoining members.

The short extension of the sides of the head member 12a are shown quiteclearly in Figure 6. The extent of the overlap is shown at 50 in Figure5.

. Both modifications of the dry wall metal doorframe of the presentinvention illustrated in the accompanying drawing provide frame membershaving a transversely extending face with rearwardly extending sidesformed on the side margins thereof which act together to provide achannel sized to receive the width of the wooden frame member plus thethickness of the dry wall panels on either side thereof. The strapswhich are fastened to the inside of the frame members are each providedwith rearwardly extending parallel portions spaced apart a distanceequal to the width of the wooden frame member and extending rearwardly agreater distance than the sides. The gap between the rearwardlyextending members of the strap and the sides of the frame member is thethickness of the dry wall panels. Thus, the rearwardly extendingportions of the strap will lap the sides of the wooden frame members andlie between the frame members and the unfastened dry wall panel. Inorder to fasten the doorframe and plasterboard panels to the woodenframe members it is only necessary to nail the plasterboard panels tothe wooden frame members at points where the fasteners will pass throughthe rearwardly extending portion of the straps.

Having thus described the many useful and novel features of the dry wallmetal doorframe of the present invention and the method of mountingsame, it will be seen that the many objects for which it was designedhave been achieved; and therefore,

I claim:

In combination with a metal door frame of the type having a lateralpanel presenting an outer face forming a door-receiving surface andterminating at opposie sides thereof in rearwardly extending sidesspaced to receive and lap dry wall panels placed along the sides ofwooden frame members forming a door opening, a plurality of U-shapedstrap members of nailable material disposed at spaced points along saidframe and each including a bight portion rigidly affixed to the innerface of said lateral panel and rearwardly extending leg portions, saidleg portions being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to thewidth of the wooden frame members and extending beyond the ends of saidsides of the door frame and in inwardly spaced relation thereto todefine dry wall-receiving pockets whereby when the dry wall panels arereceived Within such pockets said legs will pass along the sides of thewooden frame members and inside the dry. wall panels with the sides ofthe door frame lapping the dry wall panels and with the free ends of thelegs presenting end portions beyond said sides to receive fastenersextending through the dry wall panels and such end portions and into thewooden frame members, and each bight portion having its inner facespaced outwardly from the inner face of said lateral panel to presentlocalized wooden frame-engaging surfaces at spaced points along saiddoor frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,660,272 Walterman et al Nov. 24, 1953

